


If You Snap a Ginger

by Ngoc12thefangirl



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Day 5: AU/AT, F/M, Fluff and Smut, GingerRose Week 2020, M/M, Modern AU, Multi, Romantic Comedy, Sexting, Will get more explicit, snapchat au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:48:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24187681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ngoc12thefangirl/pseuds/Ngoc12thefangirl
Summary: Modern AU. 25 year old Rose, looking for an ego boost one Friday night, goes on Omegle and encounters a certain ginger-haired man named Dom. The two of them start flirting on Omegle before taking the conversation to Snapchat. On Snapchat, the two of them continue their virtual flirtation which result in a sexting marathon over the weekend. On Monday, Rose is introduced to the new hire that will share an office with her. To her shock, the new hire is 36 year old Armitage Hux, the same ginger-haired man she's been sexting all weekend!
Relationships: Armitage Hux & Rose Tico, Armitage Hux/Rose Tico
Comments: 60
Kudos: 97
Collections: GingerRoseWeek2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to ShadowRen, HalfwayThrough, ElfMaidenOfLight, Brit Hux-Tico for beta-ing!  
> This was my first fic and I could not have written this without your encouragement and support!  
> Also thank you to everybody in the GingerRose Hub discord who continuously inspires me everyday!

Rose pressed send. 

The snap left her phone with an audible _swoosh_. 

This was new to Rose, sending naughty nudes from the bathroom stall at work before going into her office. She was still glowing from the weekend and wanted to savour the giddiness of having spent the entire time having Skype sex with a stranger from across the seas. It wasn’t like Rose to flaunt her breasts and hips to everyone, but it was freeing - almost liberating - to do it without someone expecting more than what she could handle giving. She was a little tired of being good, of being the friend who had to listen about everybody’s hookups or sexcapades. 

And recently she’d been burned. 

Two months ago, her friend, Finn, asked her if she wanted to go out for coffee at Cafe Takodana downtown after work. When he had not shown up after 30 minutes, Rose texted him to ask how late he expected himself to be. Finn texted back that he wasn’t feeling well and he was staying home. 

Rose accepted the excuse and wished him well. That same day, Rose checked her Instagram feed and saw that their mutual friend, Poe, had posted a picture of himself and Finn at home watching a movie. Two weeks after that disaster, Finn and Poe announced that they were officially dating. 

It wasn’t like Finn owed her anything; they were just good friends, but Rose had thought there was something more developing between them. Ever since last year, she and Finn called each other every night to discuss his hopes, his dreams, his fears, his day… Back then, she had felt that he was opening himself up to her, letting him be his true vulnerable self. She liked the attention from him, and she thought she was special, enough for him to tell her everything that was going through his mind. Especially when they discussed what they would do in hypothetical relationships, Rose had thought Finn had been hinting he was interested in her. All too late, Rose realized that Finn had been working up the nerve to ask Poe out. When both of them announced the news; she suppressed the resentment, not wanting to ruin her friendship with the two men. 

She was happy that they were both happy together, but Finn’s rejection of her definitely dealt a blow to her self esteem. 

Last Friday night, Rose ventured onto Omegle. She just wanted amusement, but found something entirely different from what she expected; it had led to her meeting Dom online over the weekend. Dom, her new penpal, had been slow at conversation, but once they started discussing their interests, they discovered that they shared a common admiration for old fighter planes, and everything changed. Soon after, the conversation flowed easier, was more interesting; and they decided to take their conversation onto Snapchat. She had justified that it was good to network, even if they would never meet face to face. But very quickly, their conversation had gone from personable to filthy. In a matter of minutes, she was rubbing her breasts on camera for his entertainment. 

Her pussy tingled at the memory of him stroking himself while describing what exactly he would do to her if she was in his lap. 

Just as Rose was putting her blouse back on and buttoning up, an audible _ping_ alerted her to a new message from her penpal. 

_Fuck. You’re making me hard._

Rose couldn’t contain the smile on her face. Her ego was swelling and it was an addictive high. She was virtually safe to tease as much as she wanted. He would never be able to find her or see her in person. And she could play the femme fatale and get him off. It was win-win for both of them.

_What a way to start the week ;)_

_I won’t last the week._

_You’re inhumanely cruel to be teasing me like this._

She could imagine his voice, the low timber with a slight English accent. She might make him read back every naughty text when they would talk again this Friday. She tried to think of something witty to text back. Something that would leave him wanting for more, but she should really be in her office by now. It was as if she badly craved his attention; he became her new source of sustenance. 

He sent a picture back. When she opened it up, she had a few seconds to burn the image into her mind. A bit of his ginger sideburns was in the shot, but the image cut right below his eyes. He was wearing a white collared shirt with a black jacket and a burgundy red tie with black stripes. The next thing she noticed was that he held up his index and middle fingers in front of his mouth while his tongue, pink and languid, licked up the length of his fingers. She sighed dreamily as the picture disappeared. 

_I want to lick your pretty cunt until you’re shaking._

Rose composed herself before exiting the bathroom. 

When she arrived at her office, the only other desk in the room was devoid of life, populated by the dual monitors and the computer hard drive. The desks each took up a wall so that she and her new office mate would sit back to back. One side of the office was covered in her drawings, calculations and plants; the other side was devoid of any personal touch. 

Rose hoped that she would get along well with the new hire. From what she has been told, it was another aeronautics engineer from another design firm overseas, though they were more experienced in controls than she was. She sat at her desk and started compiling her to-do list for work. There were some mark-ups the contractors sent her that she needed to review, and then she needed to finalize a proposal to a client. 

She paused her work as she heard Ben’s voice coming closer. 

“You look like you haven’t slept all week. You can use today to adapt to the time difference. HR won’t penalize you for it.” 

A man’s voice replied and Rose shivered in her skin. Not from desire, but from trepidation. The voice sounded just like Dom’s… but she was probably imagining things. She was thinking about him too much and now she was imagining his voice. 

“I’m fine, Solo.”

Ben knocked on her open door and stood at the doorway. 

“Hux, you’ll be sharing an office with Rose Tico. Rose, this is the new hire, Armitage Hux. Could you help him set up?” 

Rose chirped, “No problem!” 

She rose from her desk, ready to greet her new office mate and colleague. 

Hux came into view and Rose internally freaked out. She froze mid-step, some animal part of her brain instructing her that as long as she stays still, she’ll be safe. The higher functioning part of her brain really doubted that. 

His ginger hair was neatly slicked back, parted on one side, with sideburns curving around his cheeks. He was clean shaven and dressed in a black suit, except for the burgundy tie with the black stripe. 

_‘It can’t be, it can’t be…’_ Rose repeated. 

It must be a doppelganger, a clone, a twin, a long lost cousin. It couldn’t be him because he was in the UK right now and life didn’t bring strangers with benefits together. As much as she wanted to deny it, it was him. She felt like throwing up, like running away screaming. She could only hope that he didn’t recognize her and she would have the benefit of deniability. 

He looked all around the room as he entered. He almost sneered as his eyes darted from wall to ceiling and back to wall. After he seemed satisfied with his cursory inspection of the room, he walked to where she was still frozen in place. 

He held his hand out to her, “Hello, Rose.” 

She didn't take his hand. She couldn’t. Her body wouldn’t move no matter how much she wanted it to. It was like his very presence had her trapped. Those icy eyes chilled her and made her shiver, cold dread crawled up her arms. She had only seen those eyes darken with desire before; she never realized how green they were when they were scrutinizing her. 

At first, confusion and annoyance passed over his features as he waited for her to reciprocate his handshake, then slow realization bloomed before flowering into clear shock. He retracted his hand and took a step back from her. Without another word, he retreated and exited the shared office. 

Ben looked flabbergasted at the encounter. “What just happened?” he asked incredulously. He turned to look at Rose and his eyes inspected her attire. “Do you two know each other?” 

Rose shook her head, “I’ve never met him before…” 

She excused herself, moving past Ben and careful to not bump into him. She feared that she was going to combust if anyone touched her right now. Rose jogged to the women’s bathroom down the hall, arms pumping by her side until she was inside. She retreated into one of the bathroom stalls. 

_‘Oh fuck.’_ Rose cursed. It was him. It was the Skype guy. The British guy. Dom… except his name wasn’t actually Dom, it was Armitage. And she was going to have to share an office with him. Nausea pooled in Rose’s stomach as hypothetical consequences loomed dangerously over her head. She wished that the floor would just swallow her up. Maybe today was just a bad dream. But real life wasn’t like that. Real life wasn’t easy and it didn’t give you do-overs. 

She thought about this morning, going to the bathroom to strip to send him a picture. And he probably did the same thing when he sent her a snap back. The thought of them being in the same office building and sending each other lewd images made her want to bang her head against the bathroom stall door. Anonymity made it sexy, but now… She felt like she didn't belong here. She didn’t deserve to call herself a professional when this was what she did at work. He knew what she was like behind closed doors. The image of his tongue licking up the length of his fingers flashed across her mind. She knew now how big his hands were and the thought of how much his hands could cover her made her knees wobble. That tongue, she wanted that tongue in her. 

The reality of the situation hit her hard and she could feel her heart pounding, threatening to burst out of her ribcage. _‘If only,_ ’ she thought. _‘If I die, maybe no one will find out.’_ Rose crouched, hyperventilating between her knees. She needed someone to tell her that everything was alright, but who could she tell about this? “Calm down.” she groaned out loud. 

She couldn’t stay in the bathroom forever; Rose needed to face the music. The door swung open as she stepped out. At the same time, Hux stepped out of the men’s washroom just across the corridor. The washroom door behind him swung shut and hit him as he stumbled backwards. It seemed that he was also hiding. 

She pretended not to see him and turned away to speed-walk to her office. She kept her focus to the floor in front of her. As soon as she entered her office, she dove for her chair and immediately started working. Hux entered a few minutes later. Rose’s hands were shaking, badly enough that even she could see as well as feel the tremblings. 

_‘Maybe if I don’t say anything, it’ll be like it never happened.’_ she assured herself. 

Curiosity won out eventually and Rose turned to look over her shoulder. At that exact moment, Hux looked over his shoulder at her, too. He looked at her as if she was some fantastic creature that he couldn’t believe actually existed. Once he realized that he was caught staring, he turned away. Humiliation and anger burned her face. Her brain rattled with dissonance. Was he thinking of all the lewd things she had done over the weekend? That was online Rose, not real life Rose! 

She scanned her desk for a mirror, anything that could reflect. Her little hand mirror from Vietnam, a souvenir from Ha Long two winters ago, sat reliably under her computer monitor. She opened the mirror and positioned it in front of her computer. It was well hidden, but it still offered her a view of everything behind her. Unexpectedly, Hux quickly looked over his shoulder at her and turned back to his computer. She heard furious typing. What could he be writing already on his first day? Rose braced herself for the impending email from HR. Luckily, HR didn’t contact her. 

She skipped lunch to avoid walking past him to go to the staff kitchen. But she noticed that he didn’t eat either. He just nursed his coffee mug every hour or so and continued working. She didn’t want to seem lazy compared to him. And besides, if she stayed at her desk and continued working until he went home, then she would have successfully avoided him! She was also thankful that he hadn’t spoken to her so far. 

Around 6:00 pm, Ben stopped by her office door again. He tapped on the open door, “It looks like you two are the last ones on the floor. I’ll lock the doors behind me.” 

Hux grunted in response, acknowledging Ben with a nod. 

Rose answered him, “Thank you, Ben!” 

Rose expected Hux to start shutting down his computer. Instead, he took another swig from his coffee mug and resumed typing on his computer. Not wanting to be the second last to leave, Rose turned in her chair to continue reviewing engine specifications on the Blackbird plane. Hours later, Rose looked to the time in the corner of her computer. 8:20 pm, and Hux was still at his desk. Rose wanted to think that he was just on Facebook or something, but her little mirror revealed that he was working on the control simulations of the new Boeing 787. 

Her stomach growled and hunger bit at her insides, but she didn’t want to get up yet. She did, however, concede defeat by 9:15 pm. She couldn’t stand it any longer. She was exhausted and hungry. All she wanted to do was go home, curl up into bed, and forget about the entire day. 

She put away her earphones, her notebook, and her phone. She clipped her employee card to her belt and double checked for her bus pass. If she was lucky, she could make it in time to the bus stop a couple blocks down for the 9:30 pm bus; otherwise she would have to catch the 10:00 pm bus. Rose silently prayed to a higher power, _‘God, don’t let him take the bus too.’_ She turned around in her chair, looking over the corner of her shoulder. Hux grabbed a folder from his bag next to him. He seemingly paid her no attention, content to be working. 

_‘Does he just work all day?’_ Rose wondered. _‘I’m doing the same thing. Why am I so lame?’_

Slowly, Rose got up from her seat and quickly packed her bag, careful to not make any loud sounds that might draw attention to her. It was easier said than done because, apart from the humming of the ceiling diffusers, Rose’s bag rustled as she tiptoed to the door next to Hux. She prayed that he remained oblivious to her. 

His voice startled her, “Rose?” 

She stopped in her tracks like a deer caught in headlights. “Yes?” she squeaked. 

Her throat felt tight. Maybe she should have left when Ben was leaving. She realized the folly of her ways, being alone in the office with Hux. Would he try anything? He turned in his chair to face her, but then looked away. Good, Rose couldn’t stand looking at him, being looked at by him. She crossed her arms over her chest, feeling very exposed as if he might be able to see through her clothes. He opened his mouth to say something, nothing came out except a pause. 

She tried to make her escape, but he stopped her. 

“Wait.” He stood up and only then did she realize how tall he was. 

“Kelly isn’t your real name, is it?” 

She shook her head, “And you’re not Dom.” 

Rose surprised even herself. She wondered where this bravery was coming from. 

Hux’s mouth pressed into a thin stern line. “You and I are going to forget about the weekend. This is our first meeting and we are going to be professional from this point on. I don’t see the point in involving other people into our business. Whatever we started ends today.” 

“You took the words right out of my mouth.” Rose agreed. But the ease tensed into something hot when she saw his eyes flicker down at her mouth, her breasts. 

He looked back up and already the blush was creeping across his face. Hux backed away from her and she finally made her escape. She walked as fast as she could to the elevators. Even when she was downstairs and outside the building, she still saw the lights are on through the window. 

At home, Rose went straight to bed, skipping dinner. She nestled into her sheets, begging for sleep to just take her. She was still wound up from earlier and so she played on her phone in bed. Out of curiosity, she opened up her snapchat to look at stories.

She shouldn’t… But she did anyway. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Armitage Hux makes the first move, texting Rose Tico.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to ShadowRen, HalfwayThrough, ElfMaidenOfLight, Brit Hux-Tico for beta-ing!
> 
> Also thank you to those who are reading Chapter 2! I do hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you did the first!  
> I really appreciate the comments and feedback from Chapter 1!

_ Hello Rose,  _

He deleted the greeting, considering that perhaps he should write more formally.

_ Dear Rose,  _

He deleted the greeting again. 

He was texting on a messaging app, he should be more casual. However, he realized that the situation he was currently facing was unique and unprecedented to him. He sat up in his bed, hoping that the change of position would help him brainstorm how to talk to Rose. When that didn’t help, he scanned his bedroom for inspiration. The empty white walls, the brown hardwood floors, and the single window felt unfamiliar; he was reminded that he was far away from England where his last apartment had old vintage burgundy wallpaper, carpeted floors, and numerous windows. A stranger in a strange land, indeed. 

His new bedroom consisted of the cherry bed frame, dresser, and night stand that he had brought with him from England. Apart from that, there were no other personal effects. However, even back in England, he had no mementos of his family. His father was dead and his mother was long gone. As far as he knew, he had no other bastard siblings, no other family. 

A caterwaul reminded him that he was not totally alone. “ _ Mreowwwww _ !!” 

The magnificent Millicent made her entrance by jumping onto his bed and demanded pets. 

He had met Millicent when she was cold, wet, and digging around the dumpster by his old apartment. He had seen plenty of strays; but Millicent was different. Upon seeing him, she had approached him and rolled onto her back to show him a skinny tummy that was starving for food and rubs. When Hux had attempted to go back into his apartment to get the poor thing some food, she had followed him into the building while crying. 

While she ate ravenously, Hux considered calling for animal control to take her to a shelter. After she had finished eating, she clung to Hux’s feet like he was her saviour. He could not find it in his heart to send the cat away when it followed him everywhere in his apartment and cried when he left her alone. 

He didn’t feel lonely with Millicent and - He bit his tongue to resist thinking of her name. 

She wasn’t Kelly, she was Rose. 

Millicent crawled into his lap and sat like a loaf over his thigh. He scratched the side of her face and rubbed her ears before he went back to his phone. 

Before Rose, Hux would never have considered himself to be a coward. However, since meeting her, he would have to reconsider that stance. 

The memory of their introduction was still fresh in his mind and he cringed at how it had gone. There she stood, a tiny asian woman with straight bangs and curled hair. At first, he had been frustrated by the lack of a handshake when he offered his hand to her; but when he studied the apprehension on her face, the realization of who he was looking at struck him like lightning. 

It had all seemed too surreal that, for a second, he had thought he had hit his head and was dreaming. When he had run to hide in the bathroom, he was reminded of his earlier transgression when he had sent a lewd photo to Rose that very morning before seeing her. 

‘ _ This is a nightmare. This can’t be real _ .’ he had thought. 

Shame had burned the hottest it ever had within him in that moment. For some reason, his brain had conjured up all images of Kelly - Not Kelly, it was actually Rose - Rose, he corrected, in all states of undress and shades of promiscuity. The same woman who had encouraged him wholeheartedly to masturbate to her image on the screen, the same woman who saw every inch of his pale gangly body, in all its bits and pieces, was to be his new junior. 

On Snapchat, he hadn’t been in his right mind, it had been a game that now had gotten out of hand; it wasn’t normal for him to make ribald jokes and tease about offering his face as a seat. He had tried to call his therapist back in England from the office washroom, but had remembered that he was no longer a client and he would have to deal with this on his own. 

The lightheadedness had come first, then the feeling of being crushed under an enormous weight, before he had started to feel like he was in the middle of a marathon. In the privacy of the bathroom stall, he had to clench his teeth to keep himself from screaming. Although panic attacks weren’t uncommon to him, they were rare. 

He willed himself to calm down, to breathe deeply. He wouldn’t die from embarrassment, like hell he would die from embarrassment! He had wracked his brain for anything that could calm him down. Millicent automatically came first. Millicent rolling around for belly rubs. Some joy, but his heart was still thundering. Then his brain took him to Rose, rubbing Millicent’s belly. Then he just thought of Rose smiling. He could feel his heart slowing down; the panic ebbed away. He focused more on Rose. Rose talking, laughing, biting her finger as she looked coyly at him. Then he started thinking of Rose’s breasts. And instead of exciting him like it usually did, it oddly calmed him down. 

All day today, he had tried to stay focused on his work; but he found himself constantly looking over his shoulder at her. It was like seeing a celebrity in real life and he continuously compared what he saw to what he remembered from online. She was shorter than what he had imagined and even more ravishing in person. 

That had been the worst part. That the tiny screen of their phones had not done her true justice. If he thought she had been beautiful before, now she was breathtaking. A tiny red rose in a concrete box, flourishing all on her own. Certainly now, he understood how she knew so much about flight mechanics and plane designs. Every time he had looked over his shoulder, he had wanted so badly to come up behind her to look over her shoulder and nibble on her dainty ears. 

He shut his eyes hard and opened them back again, cringing at himself. He thought briefly of his drunken father who pawed at nannies and au-pairs. He felt that familiar shame burn inside him; he didn’t want to think he was anything like his father. A philanderer who fathered a bastard son on a poor teenage mother. He didn’t want to mix up his thoughts, risk association with the good and bad. 

His therapist had asked him if the reason he shunned human touch was because he was scared; scared of being too much like his father. Perhaps. But he was still human; if he had a stomach, then he was capable of hunger… much like if he had genitals he was capable of libido. 

The weekend he had settled into his new home, he had searched online in a frustrated huff for something to satisfy that blasted urge for human connection. And so he had discovered Omegle and thought that he might like talking to strangers; anonymity shielding him from making connections that he did not have the resolution or energy to maintain. 

A few men had propositioned him to show him their penis or to show them his penis; he had then decided that if the next stranger he spoke to even mentioned the word “dick,” he would log off and never use the damned site again. 

Then he had met Rose. 

When she had asked for his name, he had introduced himself as Dom. It had been a spur of the moment decision, a chance for him to be someone else and experience something new as anyone other than himself. Though quickly in their conversation, he had wished that he had not started with falsehoods; but he had found himself compelled to continue the lie rather than risk an awkward explanation. 

Armitage Hux didn’t make friends with strangers, but Dom did. In fact, Dom was flirtatious and unafraid of telling a beautiful woman that she was beautiful. It wasn’t just her smile that captivated him; he felt a genuine sweetness radiate from her. For the first time in his life, he felt a desire for someone other than himself to be happy. 

Her beauty and the sweetness shone so much brighter when he heard her talk about old fighter planes. Everything became clearer when she was passionate. It had seemed too good to be true when she admitted that she had a fondness for planes much like he did; now it seemed like an understatement. 

He couldn’t remember who had been the first to suggest it, but they had taken their conversation from Omegle to Snapchat. He had never used the app, and had to scramble to install it and make a new profile before she changed her mind. Unbelievably, she felt more real over the app. In low lighting, in the palm of his hand, she suddenly became human within the little screen. An actual living person who wanted to talk with him. There she was, in real time, smiling and joking. 

Excitement and nervousness had made his mind go blank, but she had eventually coaxed him into a conversation about his favourite foods, the college he had gone to, the beaches he had traveled to because he liked water, her favourite books, the classes that frustrated her and enthralled her, the music that she listened to when she wanted to feel happy and productive… It had all seemed like first date material… 

Until she started unbuttoning her pyjama top. At the time, he had thought it was a slip of the fabric, the top straining to contain her ample bosom and failing. However, when she unbuttoned the second button and looked at him through half lidded eyes and a sly smile, he realized that their conversation was now beyond the threshold of mere flirting. 

Armitage Hux would have retreated, would have immediately told her that he was not interested in that sort of relationship online, would have been cautious and  _ afraid _ ; but Dom was everything that Hux was not. When Rose asked him if it was alright, suddenly so shy, Dom had asked if he could touch himself. 

_ ‘Oh stars’ _ , Hux shuddered,  _ ‘I need to apologize.’ _

He could not leave things as it was. He could not have her know him as a closeted pervert because that was not who he was. He didn’t want her to think he was anything like his father. He tried again to compose his message to her. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose attempts to play nice but Hux has other ideas in mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to ShadowRen, HalfwayThrough, ElfMaidenOfLight, Brit Hux-Tico for beta-ing!
> 
> Thank you to those who have read and special thank you to those who commented! Comments keep me fed!
> 
> Sorry for the late update!

She clicked on Hux’s contact, renaming him as “ **_Hux - Do not message_ ** ”. 

When she finished changing his contact, she opened up their chat and saw his bitmoji icon pop up onto the screen. Text bubbles appeared over his head… 

Rose waited with bated breath for his message. 

The text bubbles appeared over his bitmoji, disappeared, reappeared, then disappeared again. 

She stared at her screen with frustration as the text bubbles appeared and disappeared again, heart pounding at the anticipation of what Hux might say. 

Rose was confused,  _ ‘What is he up to?’ _

The text bubbles disappeared finally without any message delivered. It seemed that Hux was attempting communication, though he was failing to follow through for some reason. But he floundered back and forth between writing his message and waiting, evidenced by the disappearance and reappearance of the text bubbles. She decided to text him first, wanting to be upfront and direct.

_ What do you want?  _

He stopped texting, his bitmoji continued smiling at her in silence. Then it disappeared behind the keyboard, much like how she imagined Hux in real life disappearing underneath his bed covers. 

When she woke up the next morning, there were no new messages from Hux. She thought about his strange behavior from last night; she considered asking him when she saw him that morning what he had wanted to talk about, and if any of it had to do with their past affiliation. Rose looked at the time: 5:00 am. If she wanted to, she could have allowed herself maybe 30 more minutes of sleep or app surfing. She decided against it. With the extra time, she could make some egg fried rice to pack for lunch. 

On her commute to work, Rose thought up different ways to keep things with Hux civil and professional, even as her blasted imagination intervened with fantasies of him pinning her against the office walls and kissing her hard, his hands all over her, before zeroing in on her panties and - 

She needed to stop herself from drooling. 

She should not be thinking of Hux this way. It wasn’t good for either of them to get involved with each other at this point, especially when they would be working side by side as colleagues. If they became involved in real life and broke up in real life, their professional relationship would be put in jeopardy, unless one of them moved to a different department or company. 

Although fraternization was not  _ technically _ against company policy, Rose didn’t want gossip surrounding her if this hypothetical office romance failed; she did not want the pity from her coworkers if she was dumped. 

She backtracked in her thoughts; what if Hux did not want a serious relationship, but was interested in something purely physical. Unlike the online arrangement they had before, Rose felt hesitant at the thought of a sexual, physical relationship in real life. 

Online, she had control over everything: what she said, how she presented herself, what she could give him. Her stretch marks and her pudginess could be edited and angled away. There were boundaries. 

Now, in real life, the thought of exposing herself to someone felt daunting and dirty. Every flaw of hers would be there on display, impossible to hide away from him! The real life considerations - no longer remaining just in fantasy - of sex with another person her scared her more than it aroused her; she was not sure if this fear stemmed from her insecurities over her body or her inexperience as a virgin. 

She weighed the pros and cons, the cons won by a landslide. It seemed bad and borderline unethical for her to pursue a relationship with a colleague, sexual or romantic. It was unwise to mix her personal life with her professional life, putting all of her life’s drama on center stage for her bosses and colleagues to see. Her hard work would be overlooked by her personal issues; they would see Rose the Girlfriend instead of Rose the Engineer. 

She missed Dom. Not Hux. Dom brought excitement into her mundane life; he made her feel beautiful and desirable. His attention made her feel special. He didn’t make her feel like she was lacking in anything or that she had to be someone else. Almost all her life, everybody she knew tried to fit her into Paige’s mold, even when Paige had told them to stop . 

She felt small grief at the loss of Dom, the loss of what his presence brought to her. If she’d known it was going to end so quickly, she might have taken a week off to indulge in sweet messages and seductive selfies before facing the unkind truth. 

In the elevator to her floor, Rose finally let herself sigh. The sigh carried away her frustrations and worries. She needed to put her personal shit aside and be professional. That was her top priority once she started her work day; she needed to be professional. 

She thought of her family, of what advice they might give to her about her recent foolishness. She could imagine their support despite her stupidity and she felt immensely guilty and shameful at her mischief. Ultimately, she needed to make her parents and sister proud of her, wherever they were. 

Rose walked into the office at 7:35 am and mentally patted herself on her back for coming in early. 

But Hux was already at his desk, which gave her pause. The cup of coffee at his side looked half drunk, meaning he’d been here a while. His fingers flew over the keyboard yet his gaze remained fixed on one of his monitors, line by line of code appearing without hesitation. 

Hux granted her a brief glance and a curt “Good morning,” before resuming his typing. 

He acted like everything was normal despite the fact that it wasn’t. Rose wondered what had happened last night, why he spent hours trying to message her but never sent anything. 

“Good morning. Was everything okay last night?” she asked as she unpacked her bag. 

He stopped his typing, but did not look at her. 

“Everything was fine.” he answered stiffly and went back to work. 

By the time she unpacked her bag, turned on her computer, and returned from the staff kitchen with her own cup of coffee, it was already 7:50 am. 

Just as she sat down, Hux spoke. “This is a rather late start to the day, isn’t it?” 

“By your standards, yes. But as far as I know, I’m following the company’s standards; not yours.”

“I am only trying to help you.” he snapped back. 

“If I wanted your help, I would ask for it.” 

He stopped typing. She heard him huff through his nose. He resumed typing, having selected his response to her, “Do whatever you want. Stay up on your phone all night and sleep during the day, see what it does for you.”

“I could say the same for you, Hux.” she retorted back, “Aren’t you the one staying up all night, trying to send messages?”

“I did have some trouble sleeping last night,” he added. 

Rose’s mood lifted for just a second, _ ‘Because of me?’  _ before he dashed it.

“But I don’t let it interfere with my work ethic.” 

Rose didn’t want to indulge him another moment. Silenced, she sat at her computer and continued her drag calculations from the day before. __

Unlike yesterday, Rose was prepared to work through the entire day; especially now to show Hux that her work ethic was just as good as his was. Apart from her lunch, she had all sorts of snacks to keep her at her desk. An apple and two bananas were surrounded by a horde of little individually wrapped chocolates. If her office mate had been anyone else, she’d consider sharing with them, but so far he had been nothing but rude and unfriendly to her. It was clear that he wanted nothing to do with her and it made her apprehensive of talking to him. 

Although Hux didn’t say anything to her for the rest of the morning, her trusty little mirror still caught him looking over his shoulder at her numerous times. 

Rose wanted to know his deal. Why was he mean to her whenever he opened his mouth, yet couldn’t stop looking at her every ten minutes? She still felt foolish in his presence, but he seemed to have processed his emotions well enough that he could work calmly - if one ignored the staring - just 6 feet behind her. 

The two of them worked in silence through lunch. Rose ate fried rice that she had prepared in a hurry that morning at her desk, noticing that Hux ate only protein bars and celery sticks. She picked up the banana pair, still joined by the stem, and separated them, then turned in her chair to face him, holding out the other banana. 

“Hux.” 

He stopped his typing for a second before resuming. “Yes, Rose?”

“Do you want a banana?” 

This time he didn’t stop typing. “No, but thank you. I’ve eaten enough for today and I need to focus on my work.” 

She carelessly tossed one banana back onto her desk and decided to eat the other, peeling the skin off. Rose thought that a simple no would suffice, but he seemed to always need to make some scathing remark to her. She chomped on the peeled banana, wolfing it down quickly, and caught Hux watching her from the corner of her eye.

Their eyes met and he did not look away; his pale skin flushed crimson and his mouth was agape. The look reminded her of a familiar scene from the past weekend; one in which she had stuck her suction cup dildo against a wall so she could be fucked from behind while he gazed appreciatively at her swaying breasts and stuffed pussy, as she moved back and forth on the dildo. He closed his mouth but could not look away, mesmerized.

Rose, still indignant, brought the banana to her mouth, her eyes locked with his. In one breath, she stuffed the rest of the banana into her mouth like it was no big deal and turned in her chair to face her monitor, chewing in privacy with fully puffed cheeks. She felt ridiculous for a second, but vengeance felt good. She tensed as she heard his chair turn. 

Hux let out the loudest sigh she had heard all day. “It is unprofessional conduct to put on vulgar displays in front of your colleague, especially when they are your senior.” 

“It takes a vulgar mind to see vulgar things,” she quipped back. 

To her surprise, he was speechless.

The rest of the day passed in silence. Hux didn’t say another word to her, but he still persisted in looking at her over his shoulder. 

Rose, still exasperated from their interactions so far, finally asked, “Will you stop looking at me? It’s distracting!”

“You’re distracting!” Hux retorted as he typed. 

“Back at you, Hux!” Rose kept track of her calculations, refusing to cease working even to talk to him. “Instead of looking at me, why don’t you just focus on your own work?”

Twice, Ben came by their shared office to check in on Hux’s progress. 

On the second visit, he asked, “How are things going? Hux, you’re not driving Rose crazy, are you? I’m surprised she hasn’t asked for a room change yet.” 

Hux stopped typing and turned to look at Ben. “As long as I’m not in the same room with you, Solo, I have no complaints. Though Rose and I are getting along swimmingly.” 

Rose choked on the very air she was breathing. 

“Really, Rose?” Ben asked Rose jovially. “Is that why it’s so quiet in here?” 

She forced herself to laugh, trying to make it seem like everything was okay, “The sparks are flying.” 

Ben laughed and Hux cleared his throat. “I can definitely see that!” 

Ben resumed his conversation with Hux. 

The way they shared backhanded compliments and how Ben laughed at everything Hux said indicated that the two of them had history, even though they didn’t share anything personal in their encounters. Rose began to wonder if Hux insulting people was his own way of being nice, as every other thing out of his mouth to Ben was rude. 

Well, if Hux wanted to play rough, Rose would play rough right back! 

A few coworkers stopped by their office around 5:00 pm and asked how much longer she expected to stay. 

“I’m not sure, but it can’t be too long.” 

When they extended the same question to Hux, he answered, “Until I finish my work.” 

As expected, Hux stayed at his desk until they were the last two people in the office. Rose couldn’t stay past 9:30 pm or else she’d miss the last bus. She stopped by his desk and tapped its edge. His eyes looked up at her and he halted his work. 

“Goodnight, Hux. I’ll see you tomorrow!” 

“Goodnight, Rose.” He replied back. 

Downstairs when Rose reached the sidewalk, she looked up to see if Hux was still working. Ironically, the lights upstairs in the office window were turned off. 

So, he didn’t stay that much longer than her… 

When she got home, she cooked herself more fried rice with pickled cabbage and watched something on Netflix. Around midnight, she went upstairs to tuck herself into bed, but she was lying to herself if she thought she'd fall asleep right away. 

Once in bed, she hopped onto Snapchat. She felt nostalgic and wanted to re-read some of the messages that Hux had sent to her as Dom. She opened up the chat and saw his bitmoji raise its head up, as though it had been waiting for her. Text bubbles appeared immediately, disappeared once more, and the pattern repeated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter. 
> 
> Please let me know what you think in the comments!
> 
> Stay safe!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose brings a peace offering and now they're on better footing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to ShadowRen, HalfwayThrough, ElfMaidenOfLight, Brit Hux-Tico for beta-ing!
> 
> Thank you to those who have read and special thank you to those who commented! Comments keep me fed!

The rest of the week, she rose earlier and earlier. Although Rose did not take Hux’s comment personally; she felt compelled to come in early to show Hux that her work and leisure habits co-existed functionally. She saw no problem in staying up a bit late at night to surf on the internet, as long as she showed up at work before 8:00 am. However, she was growing more and more fond at the thought of showing up to the office earlier than Hux and throwing his own words back in his face, “That’s a rather late to start the day, isn’t it?”

However, Rose soon learned that the endeavor would not be so easily accomplished. 

On Wednesday, she had showed up at 7:30 am. However Hux was already seated at his desk and working. 

On Thursday, she came in at 7:05 am and had thought that she had arrived earlier than him when she did not see him at his desk. However, the victory was short-lived when she heard the tell-tale sounds of the photocopier and Hux entered their shared office with a handful of new printouts. 

By Friday, Rose arrived at the office at 6:45 am. Like all the other days before, Hux was already at his desk when Rose entered the office. 

“Good morning, Hux.” she greeted. He returned the greeting to her. 

Similarly to how the week had progressed, they worked in relative silence. However, the extra hours this week paid off for Rose; she got up more frequently from her desk to pass her designs to the code proctor before it could be passed off to the engine design department, and she collected more design assignments. 

Hux demolished through every project folder brought to him. Once someone brought him a new assignment, within a few hours, someone else would retrieve it and replace it with a new one. 

Rose was amazed at how quickly his mind worked, if the speed at which he typed at was any indication. Hux never seemed to hesitate as he wrote code to check and calibrate the control systems. 

It was Rose’s turn to look at him through her little mirror. He read the folders from back to front, wrote something down, and sat back. She wondered what his expression was like.. He sat for a few minutes, and then cracked his neck side to side. Finally he started typing. The typing didn’t stop for anything except a sip of coffee. 

Around noon, Kaydel knocked on the door to her office. Kaydel had just returned from an aviation expo in Las Vegas the night before. All week Kaydel sent Rose pictures of Caesars Palace and Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants. There were a lot of differences between them: their ages, their education backgrounds, their experience backgrounds, even their careers… but they just clicked since day one. 

“Hey, we’re all going to the Cantina. Are you coming?” 

Rose couldn’t resist the chance to step out of the office. All week, she had been in this silly one-sided competition with Hux on who could work the most hours. She needed the break after putting in so many late nights. 

She got out of her chair and grabbed her phone. 

Kaydel glanced at Hux who was still looking at his monitors. “Hey, what about you?” 

Something ugly flared up in Rose when Kaydel turned her attention to Hux, but she stamped it down. Hux wasn’t hers to possess, but her stomach turned at the thought of Hux sending naughty messages to someone other than her. Kaydel was younger and prettier with her golden hair, pale skin, and trim figure. Rose could still pinch a handful of belly fat when she sat down. Hux turned to look at Kaydel by the door. She could already imagine Hux and Kaydel flirting on the way to the Cantina while Rose became the third wheel again. 

“I prefer being called Hux instead of Hey,” he informed her. “And no, thank you.” 

A weight lifted off of Rose’s shoulders. 

Kaydel looked shocked at the response, but she nervously laughed it off. 

Rose tapped the corner of Hux’s desk, but it didn't get his attention. She still felt nervous around him; every time she was near him she thought about last weekend. Her imagination couldn’t compete with the reality of Hux. But she was braver now, albeit it didn’t stop the butterflies in her stomach.

“Play nice, it’s a good place for lunch. Are you sure you don’t want to come?” 

“I’m sure.” he confirmed. 

Rose pulled on Kaydel’s shoulder to lead her away. Kaydel still looked shocked, to Rose’s amusement. Kaydel said nothing the entire trip out of the building, but Rose knew that she was thinking about Hux. Her eyes were laser focused on something in front of her and her fists were clenched. Anyone else who didn’t know Kaydel would have thought that she was looking for a fight. 

As soon as their shoes hit the pavement, Kaydel released her frustrations.

“What a dick! Did you see how rude he was to me? He could have introduced himself to me, instead he just -” at this, Kaydel did her best impression of Hux, “ _‘I prefer being called Hux instead of Hey.’_ Did he act like that on his first day?” 

Rose smiled, although she knew she shouldn’t be feeling amused at Kaydel’s reaction. “A little bit. Ben introduced us at the time so he was a little nicer.” 

“I’m never going to talk to this guy again! Geez, he’s so unfriendly!”

“He’s a little cold, but that’s just how he is. It’s fine.” Rose defended Hux. 

They entered the Cantina. It was a nice little deli. As far as Rose knew, it was family owned. For every sandwich item on the menu, there were five drink items. A live band played everyday during lunch. It was the only place within walking distance that actually served Irish coffee. But Rose didn’t come for the Irish coffee. She came for the egg coffee. 

The egg coffee was a dream, albeit a pricey one but Rose was ready to splurge once a week for it. Today, Rose requested it without her usual espresso shot, she just needed sweetness right now. Her entire lunch hour was devoted to the one egg coffee. 

Once Rose had her coffee, she joined Kaydel on a bench outside. During their lunch hour, the two of them liked to catch up. Apart from the usual shop talk, they liked to talk personally and share with each other recommendations for food, restaurants, books, and movies. Although both of them got along well with everybody at work, it felt easier speaking with each other. 

“How are things with your therapist? Are you still going or… “, Kaydel started asking Rose. 

Kaydel still acted like the funeral was yesterday, still checked everyday with how Rose was feeling. Rose really did appreciate it but she didn’t want to be treated like she was broken. It had been about a year since Paige’s death, and although she thought of her everyday, she was not as depressed as before. She was better, although some days,the grief just overcame her, and she had to let the tears run - let herself disassociate for a while.

“Oh, I’m not going to grief counseling anymore. I stopped going a while ago. I feel fine.” Rose assured her. 

“I can talk to him, if you want. He shouldn’t be acting like a dick, especially to you. If he’s being too rude to you, maybe he can be moved to another office?” Kaydel suggested. 

Rose reminded her that the reason they were sharing an office in the first place was because there was no room in any of the other workspaces so far, Rose was one of the few lucky enough to have solid walls instead of cubicle partitions; her space was large enough to share. And it was not like she could ask Ben to take Hux into his office.

When the lunch hour came close to an end, Rose told Kaydel that she was going to pick something up for later. 

She went back into the Cantina. The deli was less crowded, which allowed Rose to go back and forth between the glass display by the counters and the sandwich menu. She considered getting him a sandwich or even an egg coffee, but she didn’t know anything about Hux, and he didn’t know anything about her. They were strangers to each other; but to her surprise, Rose enjoyed working with him. 

He was not the ideal co-worker she had in mind; but when she was around him, she felt motivated to improve herself professionally. Seeing his work ethic pushed her to keep up with him. But her motivation felt like it stemmed from spite and Rose didn’t want to work with Hux only because she wanted to spite him. She felt like if they were to be better colleagues, Rose would have to be the bigger person in this situation and extend her hand amicably to him. 

Her eyes fell on a cookie platter with only one cookie left. The cookie was heart shaped, covered in a translucent white sugary glaze, garnished with tiny dark red rose petals and tiny cubes of crystallized ginger. It was very pretty, but Rose feared that it may become a source of more miscommunication between them

What if Hux thought she was trying to send him a message by being nicer to him? She did want to be nicer to him, closer with him professionally, but she didn’t want either of them getting the wrong ideas. 

Despite the trepidation, she decided on getting him that cookie. 

Rose’s confidence waned with every step she took back to the office she shared with Hux. She was trying to resurrect something, something that had no business even being there. He Had made it clear that whatever they’d started online needed to end for the sake of professionalism. But she was only trying to be friendly. Perhaps Hux’s aversion to people was from some innate quirk or some trauma in his past? He was friendly with Ben. Actually, not so friendly - but he was amicable with Ben. 

What if instead of staying clear of him, he actually wanted someone to extend a hand? She retracted that thought, she shouldn’t be making assumptions about Hux. She didn’t want to repeat her mistake like she did with Finn. 

She entered her office, paper bag still in hand. He was still working and didn't seem to notice her. She needed to decide now, whether to proceed or withdraw. She could keep the cookie at her desk and the two of them could continue awkwardly beating around the bush. 

Or, she could give him the cookie and see what would happen next. She feared that unless she acted now, she would never have the nerve to act again; she would always be wondering what might have happened next. 

“For you.” she said, gently placing the paper bag next to his keyboard. 

She beelined for her chair and woke up her computer to resume working. She heard the typing stop, the rustling of paper. He didn’t say anything, but her little mirror showed him turning in his chair to look at her. 

He looked surprised, like he was unsure if the cookie was indeed for him or not. 

Rose turned to him, “I wasn’t sure what you would like and I wasn’t sure if any of what you said to me before was true or not and-”

“Everything I said was true.” he rushed out, and then paused, thinking, “Except for my name. But everything else was true.” 

Rose blushed, her cheeks heated up, “Me too. Except for the name thing, everything I told you was true too.” 

Last week, before they had known the truth, they’d truly opened up to each other, in ways that Rose had never done with anyone else, even her sister. 

His interest in her had been unlike anything she had experienced with Finn. Finn had been interested in knowing her opinions on what he should do next, while Dom -  _ Hux, _ she corrected herself - had been interested in her likes and dislikes, her own goals and feelings. 

The moment hung awkwardly between them. Hux held the cookie in his hand, his face almost matched his hair. He looked at her, his green eyes begged for an explanation. 

It perplexed Rose that it could be so easy to talk to someone through a screen but so intimidating to talk to someone right in front of you; even if they were the same person. 

“It was the only one they had left!” Rose explained, “I know that we had a rocky start, but I want us to get along, especially that we’re working together in the same room!” 

“Of course....” 

He broke the cookie heart in two and extended one half to her. She was so nervous about not touching him when she accepted the cookie, that she didn’t notice how close his hand was and she accidently grazed the top of his fingertips. 

A thrill shot through them. Rose’s nerves stunned her and she saw the same look on his face. His green eyes went wide and he bared his teeth in a grimace. 

They whipped their hands back away from each other, Rose’s heart pounding in her chest. 

She tried to calm herself down with deep breaths, she tried to tell herself that she was overreacting from a little static electricity. But her heart kept drumming in her chest. 

Hux, on the other hand, shook his hand like he was shaking off an injury, 

“Sparks are undeniably flying between us.” he quipped. Although his voice remained stern, she recognized the humour in his eyes. And for the first time all week, he made her laugh. 

The rest of their day was spent in relative silence. Though occasionally, Rose could hear crunching from him and it made her smile that he was enjoying the cookie. She thought about going back to the Cantina next week to buy more of those ginger rose cookies; the rose was very fragrant and it stuck on her tongue, the floral flavour quickly accompanied by the sharp taste of ginger. 

Ben visited Hux again in the late afternoon, checking in on how well Hux was adjusting to the company and to the country. Hux responded, “Everything is tolerable enough, Solo. Though you had oversold me on the beauty of the country.”

Ben retorted back, quick as an arrow, “I should have remembered that you prefer the rain and fog to sunshine, Hux.” 

It was perplexing how someone as chipper as Ben could be friends with someone as dour as Hux; or perhaps the adage of opposites attract applied to them.

“I’ve been noticing that you’ve been coming in early and staying late, Hux. Are you working towards a three-day weekend?” Ben joked. 

“If that means that I have less chance to see you, Solo; then that’s the goal.” Hux quipped. 

People tended to leave early on Fridays and by 4:30 pm, Rose and Hux were the last two people left in the office. 

A part of Rose wanted to leave early, while a louder part wanted to try to outlast Hux. But Rose admitted that she would never likely stay longer than Hux, so she should just leave. Or, perhaps she should use their current privacy to talk, to have closure and to establish clear boundaries between their interactions.

At 6:00 pm, Rose decided to call it quits. 

As she packed her bag, Hux continued to work at his desk. 

She stopped at his desk on her way out and rapped on the edge with her fingertips, “Goodnight, Hux. I’ll see you on Monday.” 

“Goodnight, Rose.” Hux waved goodbye to her while his attention was still glued to the computer screen in front of him. 

Rose exited the office doors and walked a few feet down the corridor to the elevator before she realized that she'd left her phone at her desk. She turned back to the office door and when she re-entered the company office, she almost bumped into Hux. 

After a week of sitting near Hux, she had forgotten how tall he was, how big he seemed. His hair was still in its impeccable coif, but their impact had disheveled a few locks that now hung over his brow. Over his usual suit jacket, he wore a navy coloured trench coat that matched his trousers and jacket. In one hand, he gripped his laptop bag. 

Her eyes followed the length of his tie, amazed at how tall his body was. She started thinking about how warm he must be under his coat and her mouth started watering at the speculated warmth and how it might feel against her skin. Surprise coloured his face,his eyes on guard for incoming attacks. However, his expression softened when he realized it was just her. 

“Rose? Why did you come back? Is everything alright?” he inquired. 

“Sorry, I forgot to grab my phone.” she told him. 

She ran around him to go to their shared office and upon seeing the phone on her desk, zipped to the phone and pocketed it into her purse. When she exited the office, she was surprised to see Hux waiting at the door. He had apparently smoothed his hair back so that there were no more stray locks. He stood ramrod straight, his hands folded behind his back with his laptop bag. He kept his gaze on the floor. 

“Sorry, I have it here!” 

He looked up at the sound of her voice and opened the door. Rose stopped in her tracks as she waited for Hux to leave first. However, he made no other move except to stand in front of the edge of the door and look at her. It took her a second to realize that he was holding the door for her and was waiting for her to exit first. 

They walked together in silence down the corridor. Today confirmed to Rose that Hux did indeed wait for her to leave before going home. 

So far today, she was a little more at ease at talking to him without feeling embarrassed or awkward. She no longer felt embarrassed to talk to him, and although the memory of sexting him still made her cringe, she felt that if the two had survived a week together without much drama; then surely they could move on and have a friendly, professional relationship. When the elevator doors slid open, Hux swung his arm towards the door in a polite gesture. 

“After you.” Hux said. 

If Rose had thought that their shared office had brought them close, she now knew that she was mistaken. Being in the elevator with Hux was stifling. Despite both their efforts to stay as physically far away as possible from each other, they felt anything but. 

All over the elevator cabin were mirrors, even the stainless steel doors were polished so well, that Rose could see the directions in which Hux’s eyes moved. He caught on that there was no way that the two of them could avoid looking at each other no matter which direction he looked at, so he settled to look at the bar of floor numbers above the door. Going down 9 floors had never felt so excruciating. 

“So..” Rose began. 

He refused to look at her, still standing rigidly with his jaw clenched and his brows furrowed. 

“Any plans for the weekend?” she asked. 

For the first time since she’d known him, Hux stuttered, “N-no. None. Nothing at all.” 

She did not miss the blush that glowed on his face. Now it was Rose’s turn to flush.

Last week,they had promised each other to save video calls for the weekend, while the weekdays were for back and forth snaps and messages. At the time, Hux had promised to send a little surprise for her. Now it seemed both their plans were canceled. 

“And you?” Hux asked. 

Rose was surprised. She shrugged her shoulders, “Not much. I was thinking of trying a new recipe.” 

“I remember you saying that you wanted to try coq au vin…” his voice trailed off. 

This was the first time he referenced their previous conversations. She was surprised that he remembered.

“Mmhmm,” she nodded. “If it turns out well, I’ll bring some on Monday for you to try.” 

The elevator bell dinged and he held a hand out to make sure the elevator doors wouldn’t close on her. 

“I look forward to it, Rose.” 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hux and Rose finally talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to ShadowRen, HalfwayThrough, ElfMaidenOfLight, Brit Hux-Tico for beta-ing!
> 
> Thank you to those who have read and special thank you to those who commented! Comments keep me fed!

“I’m home.” Hux announced quietly as he walked through the doorway. 

He turned around to gently close the door. From somewhere in his apartment, he heard Millicent jump onto the floor with a soft thud. 

“ _ Mrreeooww!! _ !” she called out in her shrill voice. 

He put his laptop bag on the small chair by the door and then hung up his coat. Millicent’s voice fell somewhere between chickens cackling and nails scraping on a chalkboard, yet her little cries never failed to bring a smile to his face. Little footsteps tapped repeatedly on the floor as the majestic Millicent came from the hallway. She cried again, tiny white teeth crowning a big furry mouth. 

He knelt down in the foyer to pick her up. Once she was in his arms, she started rubbing her face under his chin and nipping it playfully. All the tension from the day melted away as he kissed the top of her furry head and rubbed her ears between his fingertips. 

He held happiness in his arms. 

He walked them over to the fridge and sat her down on the kitchen counter where she flopped on the side of her stomach and watched him with disinterest. 

For dinner, he reheated a portion of cottage pie; minced beef, diced vegetables, and blocky mashed potatoes layered on top of each other in a perfect square. He pet Millicent’s soft head until the microwave dinged. Millicent jumped off the kitchen counter and followed him from the microwave to the tiny table he had brought from England with him. 

He sat by the window of his apartment, a lonely chair sat across from him. He would go grocery shopping tomorrow and make a new dish for the week. Whatever remained of the cottage pie would be frozen for later meals. 

For a brief moment, his brain walked him through a fantasy that he had been trying to resist all week. Now, he allowed himself a moment to indulge. 

He imagined Rose sitting next to him as he drove; she would lean over the armrest to wrap her arms around his. Sometimes her fingers would trace the tops of his knuckles before he grabbed her hand to hold in his. She would kiss the side of his arm, teasing him about giving him a ride afterwards. 

The fantasy quickly shifted to returning home with armfuls of groceries, setting down paper bags before taking her into his arms and kissing her senseless. He would trail kisses down her neck, between her bountiful breasts. On his knees before her; he would worship her shapely legs and comely hips, lick every inch of bare skin that became exposed as he slid her jeans down. She would throw her leg over his shoulder, grab his hair. With that devilishly sweet voice, she would command him to- 

And he was jerked out of his fantasy. Hux clutched a fist to his chest, trying to regain control of his breathing. Although his mind had returned to bitter reality, his body was still lagging behind in fantasy. 

After a quick and cold shower, Hux retired to bed. 

Millicent crawled onto his bed and settled into a bagel next to his pillow. He reached a hand up to scratch her chin before he retrieved his phone from the night stand. Hux opened up Snapchat to Rose’s messages.

Ever since their introduction in real life on Monday, he had been debating how to talk to her. Although their close working space gave him plenty of opportunities, he did not know how to proceed without the awkwardness of their Snapchat history hanging over his head. Hux feared that everytime Rose looked at him, she saw his pale gangly body, his tongue flicking at fingers in the most vulgar ways, his penis ejaculating… 

He shut his eyes hard and opened them back again, cringing at himself. If this was how he felt about himself, then he could not possibly imagine how Rose felt around him. 

He cringed again at the obtrusive memory of meeting her in person. The gall he had to go into the office bathrooms to send a lewd selfie before meeting with Solo. How he dared to be so haughty when she knew exactly what he was; a licentious bastard of a philanderer. She had remained calm during the entire introduction, but he had foolishly run away like she knew what he looked like underneath his clothes. 

By the stars, she  _ did! _

Unlike him, Rose was not different from her online self. The familiar sweetness of her nature could never be hidden. Though she did have more bite in real life than he had expected. Every time he had tried to talk to her, he picked at her with his words because it had felt natural to him. He spoke to her like he spoke to Solo; except where Solo replied back with some apathy, Rose responded to him with vehemence he did not anticipate. At times, he could not think of responses and she had won the last word. Putting aside their banter, she was essentially kind. 

His weakness was evident. He could not look at her or talk to her without thinking of her naked. If she knew, she did not show it. All week, he had thought of how to talk to her, even considering messaging her on Snapchat at night. All week, her avatar had looked back at him with hopeful eyes. He didn’t want to ruin everything further than he already did, and could never find the right words to explain himself. 

She obviously didn’t need his assistance; she was absolutely brilliant in her work and he felt foolish in hoping that eventually she might ask him for help, which would be a good way to ease into a friendly working relationship. But she never asked. She remained focused on her work which made the shame in him burn more, that he would go into work and hope that she would talk to him when it was so clear that she was there to work and not socialize. 

He had all but given up hope for the week until she came to his desk with a cookie. The cookie was good, but the shape it had him question her motives. Was she actually making a move on him? Was this a subtle way of letting him know that she was receptive to his advances? He was about to ask what the meaning of the cookie was until she told him that it was for him. 

Of course, she was just being friendly and he had been reading into it too much. He was becoming more and more ridiculous around her… Then hearing her laugh in person, it warmed his heart, and he wanted to hear her laugh again. He wanted to make her laugh. He turned his phone on again, the Snapchat messages opened up. 

Armitage Hux had to stop running away, had to actually take some control of his life; Dom needed to take a back seat now indefinitely. 

_ Did you reach home safely?  _

Terrible, terrible, terrible… He should have messaged her earlier. She would probably think he was making excuses to talk to her. But would it still be considered appropriate that he messaged her this late? He should have wished her safety when she went on her bus. He should have offered to stay with her until her bus came. Instead he had just crossed the street and stiffly waited for his bus home. 

His train of thought was broken when he saw her response. 

_ Yes.  _

_ Did you? _

_ Yes.  _

He answered too quickly. Now what could he say? Should he jump straight to the point? Should he just apologize now and ask if they could start all over again? Would it be inappropriate to ask for a fresh start? He was in the middle of typing out an apology for the things he had said to her over Snapchat before, but she sent another message. 

_ Are you having trouble sleeping too? _

He looked at the time on his phone. 1:30 am. He hadn’t even realized that it was so late. 

_ Yes. _

He blew it again. No, he had to make things right. He should have known better; a man his age should know how to act more courteously, especially to someone younger than himself. Hux took a deep breath, Millicent still nuzzled by his side. He typed out his apology frantically. 

_ Rose, I want to apologize for my behavior.  _

_ I’m sorry for the things I said and did to you over Snapchat.  _

_ That is not how I usually am.  _

_ Had I known that you and I were going to be colleagues, I would not have corresponded to you so rudely.  _

_ Since you and I are going to be working, I would like to make amends to you; I do not want to make you uncomfortable in working with me.  _

_ I will not bring up our history ever again.  _

_ I ask that you accept my apology.  _

He anxiously waited for her response. Ironically, it came quickly. 

_ It’s ok.  _

_ It’s just been a crazy situation.  _

_ But yeah, we should probably forget _

_ About what happened.  _

Thank stars, she wasn’t angry at him. Hux felt the tension of the entire week immediately leave him. 

_ :) _

It was amazing how just one emoji from her could elevate his mood. She wasn’t angry with him. He could redeem himself, show her that he wasn’t some insufferable pervert who propositioned women online. He felt hopeful.

_ Do you remember that you ran away from me when we first met? _

His hopes dropped. He didn’t want to remember. He still deeply regretted the first impression. Solo had afterwards emailed him to ask about the cause for departure. He had lied and said that he suddenly wasn’t feeling well. Now he wondered why she was bringing it up again. Was she going to extort him? Make fun of him? Scold him?

_ I believe you owe me a coffee for that ;) _

He hadn’t realized that he had been holding his breath until he exhaled. 

_ Of course.  _

_ I shall have a coffee ready on your desk Monday morning.  _

_ What do you take in it? _

_ Not just any coffee.  _

_ I want egg coffee. _

Egg coffee? He had never heard of such a thing. Was it an egg cooked in coffee? He thought of a hardboiled egg, marinating in hot coffee, and his stomach churned at what the flavour must be like. However, if that was how Rose liked to eat her eggs, then who was he to judge? He considered googling what exactly ‘egg coffee’ was but decided against it. Intuition directed his next message. 

_ What’s egg coffee? _


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and Hux start getting on friendlier terms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to ElfMaidenOfLight for beta-ing this chapter!

_ You should be on the way to work right now.  _

She rolled her eyes at the message, but her lips were stuck in a smile that she could not shake. She started typing a message but decided against it; she thought that a picture would be more of an appropriate response. Rose sent Hux a picture of her commute through the bus window. 

The sunlight peeked through the city; warm orange light blinded everything. The advantage of an early bus ride was the privacy she had as she took pictures of her surroundings.

She briefly imagined him doing the same thing on his commute too. 

The weekend had passed uneventfully for Rose. Her Saturday had been devoted to housekeeping that she had put aside for the week and her Sunday had allowed her to indulge in re-reading  _ Harry Potter _ and the  _ Female Capital _ ; a little bit of business to balance out the pleasure. 

But she and Hux had slowly commenced texting each other again. They spent the weekend sending pictures of things around their house. 

From Hux, almost 99% of the time, he sent pictures of Millicent, a cat she had not known about before. The orange cat was about two or three shades lighter than Hux’s own distinctive colour and she seemed to dominate both Hux and his home. There was not a single surface that the cat did not venture on, like the top of the fridge, the top of the kitchen cabinets, the apartment window that overlooked the city, Hux’s bed… It was unbelievable that she had seen these same surfaces so often before but it was the first time she saw Millicent. Every photo of Millicent that Hux sent was accompanied by a caption that read, “ _ My darling girl _ ”.

His love for the cat was endearing to Rose, and she felt her heart warm every time he sent her a picture. Unfortunately, she could not send cat pictures back; however she sent pictures of whatever she was cooking that night and of the drawings from her sketchbook. Knowing his affinity for cats, she took to drawing cats, to drawing Millicent, and sent them back to him which he responded by sending her more pictures.

Between the cats and the food and the window views from their homes, the unspoken boundary from their first correspondence, that had prevented them from divulging more personal information, was lifted. 

He asked the typical questions: how old she really was (25 years old, he had thought she was younger), how long she had been working at Resistance (Coming up on her third year along with her birthday), where she grew up (born and raised in the same place, though her parents had immigrated from Vietnam during the war)... 

Hux was not as forthcoming with information about himself.

He answered questions about his childhood and upbringing tersely. 

“Where were you born? I have a roommate from England too, but her accent is so different.” 

“I was born in Dublin.” 

“Oh, Dublin is in Ireland? You’re actually Irish?” 

“Half, my father and I moved to England when I was a baby.” 

“Oh, what about your mother?” 

“She stayed.” 

However, he was more open and talkative about his career and his accomplishments. 

“The CFD program that you use in testing was actually developed by me and Ben back at the First Order,” he boasted. “Ben developed the data collection program while I had to figure out how to translate the wing oscillations to node frequencies. The node frequencies then had to be put through a compiler for the PID equations.” 

“Oh! You had to use a mesh to compare the node frequencies! But what about the transient responses? The maximum overshoot is completely dependent on the wing material, either you would have to design for a higher maximum overshoot or a shorter delay time to get a sufficient settling time!” 

She learned that Hux and Ben had actually known each other for the last ten years, Ben used to work in England at another engineering firm called First Order. 

In their time with the FIrst Order, both men had their lives completely absorbed by Snoke and so as much as they loathed each other at times, they were the closest things they had as friends. 

Eventually, Ben had had enough and returned to America to work at Resistance. After Ben had left, he and Hux still kept in contact. After a couple of years of working without Ben, Hux had gotten tired of his old boss and Ben had informed Hux of an opening in the company which Hux eagerly applied for for a chance to leave the UK for greener pastures. 

Her phone dinged again. She opened up the Snapchat messages. Hux sent a picture of the clock in the office. The caption across the clock read “ _ Rose is late. Late for a very important date. _ ” The time read 6:40am. 

Over the weekend, Rose realized that the way Hux wrote and the way Hux spoke were very different, though he was hardly nefarious either way. Over text, Hux was more direct. In person he struggled with small talk, he preferred to not beat around the bush by text. Without the tone of his voice, his texting seemed blunt, but not too offputting. 

Though Rose had to admit, when Hux wanted to be flirtatious over chat, he was ace at it. 

Verbally, everything Hux said seemed like a dig, but it was the only way he knew how to speak. 

“I had no friends.” Hux had confided in her over video call over the weekend. 

“What about Ben?” Rose had asked, trying to cheer him up. 

“Solo and I have known each other for too long to be just acquaintances. Right now we are very familiar colleagues. I admit, I can come off as harsh at times. I prefer when someone has something they need of me; ask me directly instead of wasting both our time with idle chatter. I will also be direct with someone out of courtesy.” 

True, Hux hadn’t been coy when they had first met. He had been direct about what he wanted to see from her. She realized that what she thought was confidence was actually an unwavering social awkwardness that he had managed to pass off as being self-assured. 

The bus arrived at the bus station down the street from her office building. When she reached her office, Hux was nowhere to be seen. 

She unpacked her things onto her desk, except for two tupperware containers of Coq Au Vin that she had made on Sunday. She brought the container to the communal kitchen and found Hux leaning against the counter by the Keurig machine. 

“Good morning!” Rose greeted, putting away the containers of Coq Au Vin in the communal fridge. 

“How was your weekend?” she asked him. 

Just the hint of a smile appeared as one corner of his mouth turned up, “Good morning, Rose. It was very pleasant. And yours?” 

He handed her a cup of black coffee. They walked back to their office together. Still, no one else had shown up for work yet. 

“Very nice. Now I have a question for you, Hux.” 

“Ask away.” 

“I took a look at some of the Bode plots for the Lockheed Martin and I’m not sure why the gain coefficient K is 20. Shouldn’t it be higher? After all, the Lockheed requires instability for their pilots to dodge and fly with small step changes.” 

Hux quirked a brow at her, but the corner of his smile shifted higher. “Typically, but this is not your usual Lockheed. This one has a lower damping ratio. Overdesigning the gain is not necessary in this application…” 

By 8:00 am, they realized that they had gotten carried away in their discussion of control calibrations. Reluctantly, both of them turned to their respective desks to commence on their workload for the week. 

It felt like a fire had been lit under Rose now. Not the same fire from before, where she only wanted to burn through her assignments to start a new one This was a new spark, where she was eager to learn more about what Hux knew and how it could be applied to her current work. She entertained the idea of eventually branching to his discipline as well or finding a way to expedite her design specification process. 

Curiously, she looked over her shoulder to peer at Hux. Whenever she saw Hux hunched over his desk working, it spurred her on to do the same. However, this time she caught him looking at her over his shoulder. 

“What’s wrong, Hux? Am I too distracting for you?” she joked. 

He turned back in his chair in a huff. “Who would find you distracting?” 

But Rose could hear the smile as he said it. 

When the lunch hour came, Rose quickly ran out of their office to the kitchen and then brought back the two containers of coq au vin she had packed. Hux had started munching on carrot sticks, two protein bars next to the bag of carrots.

She placed the tupperware container ceremoniously on his desk. 

“I want you to try this!” 

“Is that coq au vin? It’s hardly appropriate to be ingesting wine at work.” 

“Everything's better with wine, Hux. It wouldn’t kill you to actually enjoy your lunch.” 

He ate slow; but he finished every last ounce of the wine sauce, chicken, and vegetables. His carrot sticks and protein bars were left forgotten. 

“Rose, this is amazing.” he complimented. “You’re very skilled at cooking.”

It was an odd way of saying that she was a good cook, but she still thanked him. 

“Thanks, Hux. If you like that, you should try my bun bo hue!”

“Pardon?” he asked. 

“Bun bo hue: it’s a vietnamese dish with beef and noodles in spicy lemongrass broth!”

Rose thought of other vietnamese dishes that she could make at the end of the week for Hux to try. 

They resumed their conversation from the morning again; about root locuses, nodes, and meshes. She felt that she had a sufficient understanding of the theory of fluid dynamics and transfer functions for controls; but she was still lacking in experience with the technical testing of flow over the plane’s shuttles and wings, how the plane could account for turbulence as it settled in mid-flight. 

Again, they forgot the time and only remembered to get back to work because Ben had come in at the end of his lunch hour to check on the progress of their work. 

“Hux, are you good to get started on the heat transfer simulations of the plane engines?” 

“When will you give me something challenging, Solo?” 

“I could just give you the entire plane to work with. But I don’t want to give you something to gloat over if you succeed.” 

_ “When  _ I succeed.” 

Like the past week, she and Hux worked until they were the last two in the office. 

Hux was the first one to get up. “I might call it a day.” 

Rose checked the time in the corner of her screen: 6:30 pm. 

“I might call it a day, too.” 

As she packed her bag, Hux waited patiently for her. When they exited, Hux held the door and waited for her to be the first to step out. When her bus came before his, Rose waved goodbye to him from across the street as she got on. 

When she went to bed that night, she sent him a snap of her in bed, holding up a book to cover her face. 

_ There’s nothing better than going to bed with a good book.  _

In response, he sent a picture of Millicent asleep on his chest. He was lying on his back, one hand stroked Millicent’s head while the other held the phone for a selfie. Her head was tucked under his chin and her little pink tongue stuck out. Hux looked far happier than she had ever seen him. 

_ I can think of something better.  _

Rose couldn’t resist screenshotting the picture. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading through! I hope you enjoyed the chapter so far! 
> 
> I plan to update once a week on Thursdays!
> 
> Please let me know what you think in the comments!
> 
> Stay safe!!


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